two, you need smart political decisions and that's what's lacking in the united states and in europe's capitals. america today is not in a crisis, but it is facing this upcoming economic storm that you people are blowing out of way, by taking crisis-style emergency action this week, like the fed did, it showed that the real problem ailing america today is a complete lack of political will and leadership. in other words, the fed provided cover for washington's useless politicians. so can central banks save the world? yes. but -- and this is a big but -- they can't do it alone. you need the right political decisions as well, and in washington, richard, our politicians have abdicated their responsibility to uphold the public good. richard, your turn. >> well, one's never surprised with the -- with your views, and here we go! the core question, shave or skuper. are the central banks doing what is necessary to prevent a bad situation becoming worse? and the answer is yes, and for one very simple reason. they are the only game in town. you're right, ali, up to a point. the u.s. congress has